White Paper Summary Moisture Analyzer Routine Testing To be conform with guidelines and standards such as ISO 1 , GLP/GMP, IFS/BRC routine testing of moisture analyzers is necessary. Testing should be reasonable and appropriate to assure the proper functioning of the instrument. Only by understanding the influences upon the moisture analyzer’s performance, a recommendation can be made as to which tests are required and how often they should be performed. Deviations of a moisture analyzer are mainly influenced by three elements: the heating unit, the weighing unit and the sample itself. Temperature deviations are more likely than weighing devi- ations and have a bigger impact on the moisture result. Therefore, the frequency of tests that focus on temperature deviations is higher than for tests that focus on the weighing accuracy. Further, the degree of the impact depends on the temperature elasticity of the sample. 2 Maintaining the accuracy of an instrument and reducing the risk of being out of specification requires testing by a qualified service provider, by the user and utilizing the instrument’s inter- nal reference weights (if existing). The following tests are recommended for a risk-based performance monitoring of a moisture analyzer: • Calibration (by service engineer) • SmartCal test (by user) • Sensitivity test (by user) • Temperature calibration (by user) • Test or adjustment with built-in reference weight The frequency of each routine test depends on the risk that is associated with the measure- ment process. 1 ISO 9001: 7.6 Control of Monitoring and Measuring Devices “Measuring equipment shall be calibrated or verified at specified intervals […] against measurement standards traceable to international or national measurement standards.” 2 Temperature elasticity describes the extent of the dependency of the moisture content result to deviations on the correct heating temperature.